The current World Champion finished ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg, who could only qualify third, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who joins Hamilton on the front row, in the process ending Mercedes’s 10-race lock-out run.

The vastly contrasting weather conditions meant that the timing, and tyre selection, was crucial. It was the Brit that got the best out of the intermediates before the rain came again.

While Hamilton’s success seemed inevitable given the pace he has set for the entire weekend, the performance of Vettel was unexpected.

By finishing less than a tenth of a second behind the Mercedes driver, the 27-year-old has secured Ferrari’s first top-two spot in qualifying since the Malaysian Grand Prix two years ago.

The other talking point from Saturday’s event came as both McLaren-Honda drivers, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button failed to progress past the first phase. The pair will only have the debuting Manor team behind them on tomorrow’s grid.